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■ Cary Alan Johnson: “The American religious right is finally showing its hand
and revealing the depth of its support for homophobia in Africa”

NEW YORK, March 4, 2009 – A seminar which features
Scott Lively and is designed to attack lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) Ugandans under the cloak of religion has been strongly
condemned by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

The three-day seminar in Kampala, which opens tomorrow
(March 5), features an array of U.S. speakers known for their efforts to
dehumanize LGBT people and for their belief that homosexuality can be
“cured”

In addition to Lively, the speakers include, Don
Schmierer and Caleb Lee Brundidge. All are leading voices in the crusade by
religious extremists to roll back basic human rights for LGBT people in the
United States.

Brundidge is affiliated with Extreme Prophetic Ministry
in Phoenix, Arizona while Schmierer is on the board of the so-called
‘ex-gay’ organisation, Exodus International. Lively is infamous for his
belief that the Nazi Holocaust never happened and his anti-gay crusading
group Watchmen on the Walls which is closely associated with the New
Generation Church in Riga, Latvia.

“The American religious right is finally showing its hand
and revealing the depth of its support for homophobia in Africa,” IGLHRC’s
executive director Cary Alan Johnson said this afternoon.

“This seminar will increase violence and other human
rights abuses against LGBT people, women and anyone who doesn’t conform to
gender norms. This newest form of colonialism is deplorable and must be
stopped.”

The seminar is hosted by the by Family Life Network (FLN),
a Ugandan non-governmental organization founded in 2002 that claims to be
committed to the “restoration of Ugandan family values and morals”.

The FLN opposes access to safe, legal abortions. It also
opposes the use of condoms and promotes abstinence-only programming as its
approach to HIV prevention. The FLN makes the sensationalised claim that
homosexuality is “spreading like wildfire in schools”.

Seminar organisers have invited parents, teachers,
government workers, politicians, counsellors and faith leaders. The seminar
costs 25,000 Ugandan Shillings a day (approximately $12.60) to attend.
Books and materials are extra.

“This seminar is just another way of encouraging hatred
and abuse,” said a spokesperson from SMUG.

“We condemn their discriminatory words and actions that
only lead to violence. Suffering is all that they are bringing to Uganda —
all in the name of God.”

Ugandan Bishop Dr. Christopher Ssenyonjo, who was
expelled from the Anglican Church for supporting gay people, pointed out
that there is a lot of misunderstanding about human sexuality.

“This workshop is going to bring more conflict, greater
hostility, increased intimidation,” he said. “We need love ... in the long
run, love will overcome.”

The U.S. religious right has a history of exporting
homophobia to Africa. With support from anti-gay organizations and faith
leaders such as Family Watch International and Pastor Rick Warren of
Saddleback Church, Pastor Martin Ssempa from Makerere Community Church has
attacked not only gay men and lesbians, but also women’s rights and HIV
activism.

Pastor Ssempa has stated, “there should be no rights
granted to homosexuals in this country”. In 2007, he organised a
multi-denominational rally against LGBT rights in Kampala, where one cleric
called for the “starving to death of homosexuals”.

In response to this ongoing pattern of violence and
abuse, SMUG launched its Let Us Live in Peace campaign, aimed at decreasing
violence against LGBT Ugandans.

The campaign was launched shortly after human rights
defenders Victor Mukasa and Oyo Yvonne filed a lawsuit against the Attorney
General related to an illegal raid on Mukasa’s home.

The plaintiffs won their case in December 2008 — a
landmark victory by organisers in a country that still punishes
homosexuality by life in prison and has repeatedly made efforts to silence
human rights leaders.

FLN organizers cite this victory in the promotional
materials for the seminar, saying that it shows that a “well organized
homosexual machinery” is taking over Uganda, “wreaking havoc in individuals,
families and the society”.